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The Last Runaway
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
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Publisher's summary
New York Times best-selling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring and At the Edge of the Orchard, Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions, and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement.
Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker, moves to Ohio in 1850 - only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape. Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality.
However, Honor is drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, where she befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs.
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a clearing in the wild
- By katie on 07-21-09
By: Jane Kirkpatrick
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A Sweetness to the Soul
- By: Jane Kirkpatrick
- Narrated by: Susan Denaker
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on historical characters and events, A Sweetness to the Soul recounts the captivating story of young, spirited Oregon pioneer Jane Herbert who at the age of 12 faces a tragedy that begins a life-long search for forgiveness and love. In the years that follow, young Jane finds herself involved in an unusual and touching romance with a dreamer 16 years her senior, struggles to make peace with an emotionally distant mother, and fights to build a family of her own.
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Unexpected Treat
- By Sarah D. on 12-15-11
By: Jane Kirkpatrick
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Daniel's Bride
- By: Linda Lael Miller
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When a woman has to choose between death and marriage to a total stranger, she must be in a dire predicament.... And for Jolie McKibben, about to pay by hanging for a terrible crime she didn't commit, salvation by marriage couldn't come a moment too soon. Housekeeping for Daniel Beckham, a widower who invoked the town's wedding ordinance to rescue Jolie from the gallows, is better than the alternative...but understanding the silent stranger who is now her husband might just about kill her.
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Great book.
- By Amazon Customer on 02-10-18
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Rush Home Road
- By: Lori Lansens
- Narrated by: Ruby Dee
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
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When a 70-year-old woman finds a five-year-old girl abandoned on her doorstep, she is thrust into a sorrowful past that can only be conquered with the help of the girl who opened her memory - the very girl she is trying to save. This first novel, according to author Jacquelyn Mitchard, is one of "exquisite power, honesty, and conviction...quite nearly without flaws."
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filthy language and violent content
- By Anna on 12-16-11
By: Lori Lansens
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Springwater
- By: Linda Lael Miller
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Evangeline Keating came West because she had to: after her husband's passing, she needed to build a new life for her young daughter, and marrying a stranger from Montana Territory was her best chance. After a difficult winter journey, she arrives at an isolated outpost called Springwater Station. But the handsome man who's come for her is not her husband-to-be, and Evangeline soon finds herself thrust into a most inconvenient - and highly improper - arrangement.
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Prolific foul language and graphic descriptions
- By Les Raymond on 03-04-20
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Taking a Chance
- By: Kelly Eileen Hake
- Narrated by: Barbour Publishing Inc
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Being safe means staying away from men. But Delilah's decision is threatened when she meets Paul Chance. The handsome rancher makes no demands, treats her with respect, and always keeps his word. Paul's deep abiding love of God is a thorn in the flesh to Delilah. God didn't answer her mother's prayers to free Delilah's father from the power of gambling. Then He took away both her mother and father. How can she trust a God who would allow such things? Will the past continue to cause Delilah to keep people and God at a distance, or will she finally decide to take a chance on love?
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Love this series of books!
- By Bert on 03-15-14
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A Marriage of the Heart
- By: Kelly Long
- Narrated by: Sarah Jindra, Brooke Sanford Heldman
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Three stories that share the adventures of first love and second chances. "A Perfect Secret" - Rose Bender’s betrothed, Luke Lantz, is safe and dependable - maybe a little too much so. Or so she thinks until she sees him in the woods one night and discovers a secret he’s been keeping. "Christmas Cradles" - When Anna Stolis takes over for her aunt, the local midwife, Christmas night heats up with multiple deliveries.... "A Marriage of the Heart" - Since her mother’s death, Abigail Kauffman has lived alone....
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happy with it!!
- By Crystal Warbritton on 04-03-15
By: Kelly Long
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The Beekeeper's Son
- Amish of Bee County, Book 1
- By: Kelly Irvin
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Phineas King knows better than to expect anything but shock and pity wherever he shows his face. Horribly scarred from the tragic accident that claimed his mother's life, he chooses to keep his distance from everyone, focusing his time and energy on the bees his family raises. So why does he start finding excuses to seek out Deborah Lantz, the beautiful new arrival in town?
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Book lover. No matter what forum.
- By J.C. on 06-21-15
By: Kelly Irvin
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The Quilt Walk
- By: Sandra Dallas
- Narrated by: Kate Reinders
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1863 and Emily Blue Hatchett has been told by her father that, come spring, their family will leave their farm, family and friends in Quincy, Illinois, and travel the Overland Trail to a new home in Golden, Colorado. Emmy and her mom have mixed feelings about the trip and are saddened by all they must leave behind. The journey by wagon train is long and full of hardships, and Emmy's experiences along the way bring the period of westward expansion, as well as issues facing women, to life for young listeners.
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Great for all ages!
- By Paige on 10-31-18
By: Sandra Dallas
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The Moonflower Vine
- A Novel
- By: Jetta Carleton
- Narrated by: Natalie Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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On a farm in western Missouri, during the first half of the twentieth century, Matthew and Callie Soames create a life for themselves and raise four headstrong daughters. Jessica will break their hearts. Leonie will fall in love with the wrong man. Mary Jo will escape to New York. And wild child Mathy’s fate will be the family’s greatest tragedy. Over the decades they will love, deceive, comfort, forgive - and, ultimately, they will come to cherish all the more fiercely the bonds of love that hold the family together.
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I didn't want it to end!!!
- By Amanda H. on 01-20-21
By: Jetta Carleton
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The Underground River
- A Novel
- By: Martha Conway
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1838, and May Bedloe works as a seamstress for her cousin, the famous actress Comfort Vertue - until their steamboat sinks on the Ohio River. Though they both survive, both must find new employment. Comfort is hired to give lectures by noted abolitionist Flora Howard, and May finds work on a small flatboat, Hugo and Helena's Floating Theatre, as it cruises the border between the northern states and the southern slave-holding states.
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Excellent historical fiction audiobook
- By LindaJS on 10-03-17
By: Martha Conway
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The Magic of Ordinary Days
- A Novel
- By: Ann Howard Creel
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp.
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I purchased this audio book not 15 minutes ago...
- By Kim on 09-15-16
By: Ann Howard Creel
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The performance was superb
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Excellent
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On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary Anning learns that she has a unique gift: "The eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man.
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Wonderful Book!
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Bewitching art experts and enthusiasts alike for centuries, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries hang today in the Cluny Museum in Paris.
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Wonderful Audiobook!
- By LynnInColorado on 07-12-05
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A Single Thread
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1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals.
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Well-written but Not for Everyone
- By Janna Wong Healy on 04-05-20
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The Virgin Blue
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Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin, two women born centuries apart, yet bound by a fateful family legacy. When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France, Ella hopes to brush up on her French, qualify to practice as a midwife, and start a family, but a peculiar dream of the color blue propels her on a quest to uncover her family's French ancestry.
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excellent listening, mediocre story
- By Beth on 10-02-03
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1838: James and Sadie Goodenough have settled where their wagon got stuck - in the muddy, stagnant swamps of northwest Ohio. They and their five children work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying saplings from a local tree man known as John Appleseed so they can cultivate the 50 apple trees required to stake their claim on the property. But the orchard they plant sows the seeds of a long battle. James loves the apples, reminders of an easier life back in Connecticut; while Sadie prefers the applejack they make, an alcoholic refuge from brutal frontier life.
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The performance was superb
- By cheryl retired bookseller on 05-30-17
By: Tracy Chevalier
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A poor family moves to 18th-century London, where the father has been offered a job as a carpenter for a circus. His children befriend a young girl who introduces them to the great city. Their neighbor is none other than the real-life poet, William Blake.
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Excellent
- By Margaret on 04-15-07
By: Tracy Chevalier
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Remarkable Creatures
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
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On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary Anning learns that she has a unique gift: "The eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man.
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Wonderful Book!
- By Griffin on 02-01-10
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Bewitching art experts and enthusiasts alike for centuries, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries hang today in the Cluny Museum in Paris.
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Wonderful Audiobook!
- By LynnInColorado on 07-12-05
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1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals.
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Well-written but Not for Everyone
- By Janna Wong Healy on 04-05-20
By: Tracy Chevalier
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The Virgin Blue
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Janine Carter, Gigi Marceau Clarke
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin, two women born centuries apart, yet bound by a fateful family legacy. When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France, Ella hopes to brush up on her French, qualify to practice as a midwife, and start a family, but a peculiar dream of the color blue propels her on a quest to uncover her family's French ancestry.
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excellent listening, mediocre story
- By Beth on 10-02-03
By: Tracy Chevalier
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Falling Angels
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
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An elegant, original, and compelling novel, set against a gaslit backdrop of social and political turbulence in early 20th-century London, Falling Angels draws a picture of family life that exposes the prejudices and flaws of a changing time. Chevalier ( Girl with a Pearl Earring) "shows imaginative skill in two neatly accomplished surprises, and the denouement packs an emotional wallop," says Publishers Weekly.
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Haunting Historical
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It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers on Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make glass beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.
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Confused about time
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By: Tracy Chevalier
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Girl with a Pearl Earring
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17th Century Holland. When Griet becomes a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer in the town of Delft, she thinks she knows her role: housework, laundry and the care of his six children. But as she becomes part of his world and his work, their growing intimacy spreads tension and deception in the ordered household and, as the scandal seeps out, into the town beyond.
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Perfect Narration
- By Anonymous User on 08-23-24
By: Tracy Chevalier
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Reader, I Married Him
- Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Tracy Chevalier - introduction, Laura Kirman
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Part of a remarkable family that produced three acclaimed female writers at a time in 19th-century Britain when few women wrote and fewer were published, Charlotte Brontë has been a great source of inspiration to writers, especially women, ever since. Now, in Reader, I Married Him, 20 of today's most celebrated woman authors have spun original stories using Jane Eyre as a springboard.
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Beautiful and sad and everything
- By Adrianna Prejna on 10-03-16
By: Tracy Chevalier
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Violet
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Lisa Shari Böttcher
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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England, dreißiger Jahre. Die Abende, an denen Violet mit einer Gruppe ungewöhnlicher Frauen wunderschöne Stickereien für die Kathedrale in Winchester anfertigt, sind der Aufbruch in eine neue Welt. Chevaliers neuer Roman ist episch, warmherzig und lebendig - eine Hommage an die weibliche Kunstfertigkeit und ein Buch darüber, wie Schönheit auch ein bescheidenes Leben erfüllen kann.
By: Tracy Chevalier
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Flight of the Sparrow
- A Novel of Early America
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- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader and made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people. Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness.
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More Romance Novel Than Historical Fiction
- By Stark Twain on 10-10-20
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The Last Russian Doll
- By: Kristen Loesch
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In a faraway kingdom, in a long-ago land...a young girl lived happily in Moscow with her family: a sister, a father, and an eccentric mother who liked to tell fairy tales and collect porcelain dolls. One summer night, everything changed, and all that remained of that family were the girl and her mother. Now, a decade later and studying at Oxford University, Rosie has an English name, a loving fiancé, and a promising future, but all she wants is to understand—and bury—the past. After her mother dies, Rosie returns to Russia, armed only with her mother’s folklore—and a key.
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Captivating and accurate
- By Deeyochus on 09-20-23
By: Kristen Loesch
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Someone Knows My Name
- By: Lawrence Hill
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 18 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Aminata Diallo is the beguiling heroine of Lawrence Hill's Someone Knows My Name. In it, Hill exquisitely imagines the tale of an 18th-century woman's life, spanning six decades and three continents. The fascinating story that Hill tells is a work of the soul and the imagination. Aminata is a character who will stir listeners, from her kidnapping from Africa through her journeys back and forth across the ocean.
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Rich in history and moral messages
- By Ariela on 10-14-09
By: Lawrence Hill
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The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
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- Unabridged
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Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, and Naples, peopled with historical characters and filled with the details of the life of a 17th-century painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art.
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Disappointing
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By: Susan Vreeland
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Moon Over Manifest
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Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was. Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it's just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos.
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AWESOME book! LOVED it!
- By Rae on 06-23-11
By: Clare Vanderpool
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Woman of Light
- A Novel
- By: Kali Fajardo-Anstine
- Narrated by: Melinna Bobadilla
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob. As Luz navigates 1930s Denver, she begins to have visions that transport her to her Indigenous homeland in the nearby Lost Territory. Luz recollects her ancestors’ origins, how her family flourished, and how they were threatened. She bears witness to the sinister forces that have devastated her people and their homelands for generations.
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Historical Fiction that needs to be told
- By Kristen Cannon on 06-22-22
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What Once Was True
- By: Jean Grainger
- Narrated by: Caroline Lennon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Robinswood, Co. Waterford, 1939. The once grand house is home to two very different families. Despite delusions of grandeur, Lord and Lady Kenefick and their adult children live a life of decayed opulence as the money needed to keep such a large house and grounds ever dwindles. Meanwhile, the Murphy family, Dermot, Isabella and their three almost grown-up girls, live and work on the estate and do their best to keep everything running smoothly.
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I throughly enjoyed every minute of this book
- By paula wright on 09-16-20
By: Jean Grainger
What listeners say about The Last Runaway
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ellen Rosewall
- 05-08-15
Expected more from Chevalier
I've read several books by Tracy Chevalier and this is my least favorite. It is fairly shallow, given the fact that the subject matter could have lent itself to much more depth. Chevalier's previous books which factionalized artistic subjects were much more intriguing. There was an opportunity to do more with the quilt code, the historic relationship of the Amish to the Underground Railroad, and even the role of the women who put their lives and marriages on the line to help runaway slaves.
Perhaps the reason this book felt so shallow to me was the affected performance of Kate Reading. After a couple of chapters, I nearly gave up, but persevered, only to discover that the narrator never lost the affected tone and irritating habit of ending every sentence with an upward tilt to the voice like a question.
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1 person found this helpful
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- EKM
- 09-16-22
A Favorite
one of the best pieces of literature and reading that I know. have read and listened to it countless times.
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- nancy lauka
- 11-09-19
Was not pleased with narrator
Even I can do an English accent. It bothered me that she did not even seem to try.
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- L. Essig
- 04-15-19
Good Book
This was a great book. Enjoyed the historical references. I could almost picture the quilts.
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- Texas wife, mom & teacher
- 05-06-23
Loved this one
What a great book!!! Wonder new way to look at the people supporting runaways via the Underground Railroad.
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- Tom
- 04-02-13
unjustified perseverance got me through
I trusted the author's reputation on this purchase. That plus an interest in the workings of the underground railroad. I found it rather boring. I kept listening with one ear so to speak since much was uninteresting to me. There is a lot, really a lot, of quilt making discussions. Some of the reactions of the English girl to life in America in 1850 are interesting, like how rude rocking chairs may seem. Runaway slaves do not appear until the last 1/2 hour of part one. The treatment of the issue I found mildly interesting.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Sarah H
- 04-19-14
Nothing mind blowing
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The book was historically accurate, gave a very vivid look into early American life in the (now midwest) region of the US. The story was a little on the bland side. I have read some of Chevalier's other novels and this one was almost like an intro to a possibly more in depth and fleshed out novel.
The plot was very simple and the characters were pretty basic. It touched on the underground railroad but only towards the end and in a very basic, textbook, learned in high school manner. I was not wowed by the read and didn't really come across anything I didn't already know.
I personally think it focused too heavily on her being a Quaker, quilts and getting married than anything else. I understand these are important aspects of a woman's life at this time in history but if that is the plot then an entire fictional account is not necessary.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
I guessed it before it happened, pretty predictable. A small twist but for the most part very clean cut and laid out as expected.
What about Kate Reading’s performance did you like?
She has a strong English accent (from an American point of view) but she did the old Southern accents, different English accents, men and women's voices and the basic slave/freed black men and women accents very well. I always enjoy when the reader makes an effort to give life to each character by giving them a voice and mannerism that reading a book to yourself is unable to do.
Did The Last Runaway inspire you to do anything?
Haha it inspired me to learn how to make frontier style fruit leather! I also would love to learn how to can and pickle some fruits and veggies this summer.
Any additional comments?
I like Chevalier's books noverl (esp. the Virgin Blue), they are calming and not too intense which is sometimes what I need to get through a hectic week!
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- Lynne
- 03-16-14
More than entertaining
Would you consider the audio edition of The Last Runaway to be better than the print version?
The audio version is preferable to me only when I am unable to sit down and hold a book.
What did you like best about this story?
The information I gleaned about the Underground Railway as it pertained to the Early American Quakers & their counterparts in England
Which character – as performed by Kate Reading – was your favorite?
Honor!
Who was the most memorable character of The Last Runaway and why?
Honor's mother-in-law. She did not represent the supposedly non-judgemental, Christ like Quakers of that time.
Any additional comments?
I have Quaker Heritage on both sides of my family tree though my childhood paternal side did not know that. I have always appreciated the legacy I felt resulted in my own family's treatment of women in our small, rural community and in Friends churches throughout Mid-America where I grew up.
As a result, I found the author's research and representation of this time in Early American history quite solid.
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- Augusta
- 03-24-13
Great Story, Disappointing Narrator
I was engaged by the story of Honor Bright, a young Quaker woman from England in the 1850s who hastily decided to accompany her sister who was traveling to the US to be married. We learn that Honor's engagement had been broken in a difficult way (in her faith).
This is not the type of book I would usually read - historical with a promise of romance, but I was intrigued by Honor and the unexpected troubles and difficult decisions she made after her sister died before reaching her fiancé.
Themes of personal faith, community, slavery, individuality drew me in, and I cared for a few of the characters and how they would find their place and peace among it all.
It may be that some would see Honor as a simple (in spirit and life) woman, but I believed she was a strong woman who was guided by her moral and spiritual beliefs, even when it set her apart from "the plain folk". I admired her tremendously and believed her to be stronger than most in the community did.
It was a pleasant, easy read, and I did find it thought provoking as I considered what I would do in her situation.
I was very disappointed in the narration though. It was quite inconsistent with the narrator not always using the same "voice" for the same characters. She also had a distracting habit of pausing in a peculiar pattern. It took about 3 hours for me to finally decide I'd keep listening because I was enjoying the story, and therefore I needed to try to just accept the narration as was.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Julie
- 07-06-16
Interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable
The question of self interest vs the greater good is always interesting. Being put inside the Quaker dilemma at the time of slavery and the underground railway gave a more intimate view to the issue.
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